Bee Venom and Scar Tissue

[midnightmist]

I have been doing some reading into the use of bee venom for scars. A friend put me onto it after seeing a site on the internet where someone stung their scars and it improved the look and feel of them - so much so that the person using it believed they would completely disappear. Risky I know. However, after reading so many positive before and after stories on the internet, coupled with the cost/limited success of mainstream treatments I thought it might be wise to give it a go.

I stung a scar of mine last week and the area puffed up for 3 days. A few large pimples rose to the surface on day 3 where id stung and im taking it, thats the venom being expelled. I havent noticed any improvement to the scars. One actually feels thicker underneath where id stung it, like there are some additional ropes that have been created. Most importantly though, there has been no improvement to the tone or colour of the scar.

Is this a sign of infection or is this normal? I'd love to continue the therapy but im a little stunned by the lack of results, especially when the stories made it sound like a sure thing.

I'd be keen to get your results on all of this

Yours kindly

Midnightmist

[jrbbees]

I'd do some reading in a medical journal first. the Internet is the source of some of the best and worst info you can find. Keep an eye on that place you may have infected it. It may be worse. I have a large spot on my leg, looks like a large wart about 1/4 inch high, it is the scar from a single fire ant bite that got infected.

[Bee Bliss]

Could it be that the pimples are actually the welts/bumps where the stinger/s was/were located? And that it showed up after the swelling went down?

Apitherapy takes time. It would have been helpful to know how long you have been stinging and if you built up slowly to the venom. Usually people/beekeepers that get stung over a period of time do not have much swelling. Also, are the scars in the form of lines (like surgical) or are you talking a wide area, for example, a 5x5 area? Was the first time you stung last week??

Do you have any books on this? There are a few.

[Ben Brewcat]

Well the swelling that is normal from a sting is fluid that builds up at the sting site. That fluid normally dissipates through normal channels through tissue. When there's an insult to tissue, such as an injury, the channels that normally drain fluid do not work as effectively. Consider the swelling that a fracture causes: a broken humerus, for example, will cause swelling on the whole affected arm for months while the disrupted "drainage" heals.

I suspect the increased density you're feeling is just fluid that is taking longer than normal to dissipate because of the scar tissue. I'm not familiar with stings' success for scar tissue, but I haven't really seen ANY info about it so I can't really opine one way or another.

[midnightmist]

Thanks for your reply beebliss. Yeah the swelling was quite noticable for the first 3 days, it went well and truly beyond the scar and made it a lot more puffy. That swelling has died down, alongside the increased redness of the again. Its more, that it looks similar to the way it did before, with the exception of a strip that feels a little more lumpy. Its stayed that way for a few days now, so im hoping that is swelling.

The doctor who sent me the bee venom powder recommended i mixed it with saline..however i only had water, so im wondering if this could play a part? I've also been told to sting on and around the scars and so far I've only stung on the actual scars.